


#12: "Take my jacket. It's cold outside"

by Snowblaze



Series: 100 Ways to Say "I Love You" [2]
Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: And 36-hour shifts with barely any breaks in between, Did Claire fall asleep again?, F/M, It's snowing in San Jose, Mentions of Death, Neil and I both agree, Neil is beginning to see Claire in a new light, Sleepy Claire is adorable Claire, Snow Emergency, Time for major car accidents!, once again, yes - Freeform, yes she did
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 01:15:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14509311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowblaze/pseuds/Snowblaze
Summary: It's snowing in San Jose. Need I say more?(MMVA=Multiple Motor Vehicle AccidentMCS=Mass Casuality Situation)





	#12: "Take my jacket. It's cold outside"

Snowflakes were falling down from the cloudy gray sky faster than a peregrine falcon. It barely snowed in San Jose, only averaging maybe 2 inches a year, 3 if it was fortunate. So this snowfall, which was already littering the ground in crunchy, white layers, was definitely a record-breaker. Claire was most assuredly unprepared for this weather, having packed light clothes for her after-shift apparel. Today wasn’t supposed to be so cold; then again, she really had to do a better job of checking the weather for the entire week when she had the chance of being put on a 36-hour shift.  
Claire snapped back into reality at the sound of chimes and refocused on her work, looking at her phone. Dr. Lim was texting her, telling her to hurry up and scrub in for the appendectomy in OR 6 and stop dawdling. Great, not only was she somewhat ignoring work to admire the first large snow San Jose had had in decades, she had been caught doing it. Shaking her head, defeated, she slid her phone into her coat pocket and walked briskly to the OR.  
One interesting appendectomy later, which turned out to not be an appendectomy but rather a toothpick-ectomy, as Lim had trademarked it, Claire was slipping into her sneakers as she got ready to go home. In a turn of events that would almost seem humorous if it wasn't happening to her, her car was in the shop the day the area’s biggest snowstorm on record blew threw San Jose. It was the coldest it had been in years, and she had to walk to her apartment in a half a foot of snow with her doctor’s coat being the heaviest thing on her.  
Maybe she could catch the bus? The thought lingered in her mind as she picked up her bag. There was one that came within a few blocks of her house; it would be better than freezing her arse off as she walked in snow for 2 miles. Her optimism returning, she began heading for the door when her phone unexpectedly sounded with the familiar tune of chimes. Grabbing the device with her free hand, she opened it and read at the notification.  
“National Weather Service:  
There is a snow emergency in effect in your area. All local bus routes have been cancelled. Several freeways are blocked. Please, remain indoors and stay as warm as possible. Don't leave your place of residence unless absolutely necessary.”  
The aggravated growl Claire released was enough to turn a few heads from the nearby Nurse's Station, but following it were understanding glances and nods. Claire turned on her heel and retreated to the nearest bathroom to clean herself up and try and at least look like she hadn't slept in a day, rather than two. After that minor straightening up, it was off to the oncall rooms till the roads cleared up. Normal people would think that you would clean yourself up after you slept, but she knew that with all the crazy cases and patients the hospital saw a day, sleeping in the oncall rooms without interruption would be a blessing.  
Walking over to the sinks, Claire glanced at herself in the mirror and yawned into her sleeve. She didn't look too bad, the few stray curls and evident dark circles under her eyes not very harmful to her overall appearance. The hair could be fixed by a simple scrunchie after she woke up and what was under her eyes could be fixed with two minutes in bed. She skipped out of the bathroom and into the oncall room, collapsing on a random mattress and dozing quickly.  
After what felt like seconds later, but was actually a few hours, someone bursted into the oncall room.  
“There’s a major pileup on the freeway. Mass casualty situation. They’re asking for as many doctors on scene as possible. It’s a long ride to and from the scene, so everyone’s being treated on site, and major surgeries are being hailed through the gates of hell to get to ORs.” A nurse explained frantically, and in response Claire sat up in unison with a few other doctors who were crashing in there. They grabbed their medical necessities and zipped out of the small room, joining the congregating doctors around the doors.  
“Okay, we don't have snow emergency drills nor MMVA-MCS snow emergency drills, but this is what we got. We're cramming as many doctors as we can into all the ambulances we've got. Move, move, move!” Someone ordered. Amidst all the chaos, Claire couldn't tell who it was. People started filing out of the doors in no organized way, piling into ambulances. Once filled to capacity, the ambulances would shut their doors and book it out of there. Claire, still battling her sleepiness away, managed to get onto one of the last ones before it streamed out of there.  
The ambulance was crammed with doctors from varying floors and departments of the hospital, all frazzled and cold. It was evident to Claire that they all needed some rest, but clearly that would have to wait. Their inconveniences didn't matter in this situation, a situation that was leaving many dead and even more injured in its wake. One of the doctors from the dermatology suites reestablished the usual MMVA protocol, as well as the MCS protocol. Although the plans were definitely different in the case of a snow emergency, the only one who knew anything similar to it was the youngest doctor on board, Claire. She said a few things, consisting of the basics of what she could recall and the usual reminder to “keep warm”.  
The ambulance was crawling along at a snail's pace atop the slicked, icy roads, tires unable to find traction amid the freeze. When the faint echo of sirens she had become all too familiar with joined in it's screeching melody with other ambulances, Claire knew that they were close to their arrival. When the ambulance finally rolled to a stop and the sirens turn off, she realized that it wasn't just other ambulances she had heard; but rather car horns and people screaming in agony.  
Claire took a deep breath and clutched her bag of medical supplies close to her as the ambulance slowed to a stop. The doors of the vehicle opened and the doctors sped out like a pack of frightened gazelles, going off to see patients on gurneys and the other victims scattered throughout the scene. The cold of the wind was piercing, but the heat of the crashed cars ebbed the pain slightly. She approached a car, pulled on a new pair of gloves, and got to work.  
Hours later, the major accident was finally cleared and all the patients had been attended to and sent off to hospitals when need be. Claire was sitting in the back of an ambulance, holding a cup of crappy, site-made coffee in her hands. It was warming up her freezing hands, though the heat was all but lost when it reached her damp, navy scrubs. She was shivering, the insulating blankets she would’ve paid everything to be wrapped up in having run out when they were still treating patients. Staring off into the distance, her mind drifted off into a thoughtless, sleep-deprived trance.  
“You okay?”  
The voice startled Claire from her fatigued reverie, and she glanced at the source. Seeing who it was, she averted her eyes to the floor, trying to avoid the concerned glance they were giving her.  
“You're shivering.” Neil noted after a moment of observing the petite surgical resident, before looking at the snowy skyline then back to her.  
“Here, take my jacket. It's cold outside and sitting in here, especially in wet clothes, won't help.” His jacket was impossibly warm as he wrapped it around her shoulders. Claire clutched it tightly to her and embraced the warmth as Neil sat next to her. They both shared a small smile that could light up this gloomy grey evening and take away all the fatigue they were both feeling, but it ended quickly when Claire looked away, her eyes tired and strained. She leaned against Neil’s shoulder, making it seem like the reason she looked away was for whatever reason she was doing this, although it wasn’t. He gazed at her, confused, till a few familiar snores broke the wind-filled silence.  
Neil chuckled softly and looked out to the snowing clouds, sighing. He wouldn’t be able to move until she woke up, definitely not wanting to deal with an awoken, angry, sleep-deprived surgical resident who was already somewhat sassy before all of the reasons listed above. He also didn’t really mind seeing Claire so calm and at peace, finally fully relaxed for the first time in a couple days. He let out a small huff of air at the realization, but let the cons of this situation fall to the back of his mind as he rested his head on the wall of the ambulance.  
This was going to be a long ride.


End file.
